Vintage Kimono Fabric Bag

Since I have not managed to actually finish any garments since I last posted I thought I'd share some pictures of a bag I made my mother for mother's day.

I used some vintage kimono silk fabric that I bought off of etsy... I have a mini horde of the stuff now, because if you're like me and love both vintage and Japanese textiles this kind of etsy buying is hard to resist.

I used a modified pattern from a Japanese sewing magazine called Pochee from the spring 2007 issue. This is one of the few Japanese sewing magazines I own and none of the garments I've made from it have ever turned out (I can't pull off the charming sack look!), but this one magazine has a lifetimes supply of lovely and simple bag patterns so it was worth the purchase.

My only real changes to the pattern included using a sewn button instead of a knot to join the straps and adding inner pockets. I also interfaced the bag section with old pants wool and fusible interfacing to give is a sturdier body.

I really enjoyed turning the old textile into a new object. My mother seemed to like it, though she might be biased!